Strategy Card Game

ABSTRACT

A strategy card game where players have an initial hand of three cards and engage in three rounds of either drawing a card, discarding a card, or passing with the goal of obtaining a five-card combination of features worth the most points. The cards pertain to two creatures, each having five corresponding appendages. Each appendage card is present in the deck in five different colors.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a U.S. non-provisional application.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a strategy card game and methods ofplaying a strategy card game.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Card games are a popular form of entertainment. A traditional deck ofcards includes criteria such as color, number, and rank like red orblack, 9 or 2, and queen or jack, respectively. The traditional cardgames are played and won based on the suit a person or dealer has.Traditional card game outcomes may depend on chance, the luck of thedraw, and/or skill, making the right decisions. Traditional card gamescan be played by one person (solitaire) or multiple people such as withpoker. However, traditional card games may become monotonous and are notlikely to stimulate imagination and creativity.

More modern card games have become more complicated with more criteriaand complex rules, making the games pertain to games of skill ratherthan games of chance. Some of these card games are linked to or playedin connection with props, game pieces, or are based on movies and videogames having complex plots. While these card games may be more visuallyappealing than traditional card games, their complexity is off-putting.Games last hours, and players have a difficult time keeping track of allthe card types and criteria.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

What is needed is a strategy card game that is engaging, fun, involveschance and skill elements, and appeals to a wide audience. The card gamecomprises a deck of cards. The cards comprise creature cards, creatureappendage cards, and a wild card in some embodiments. The cards havedifferent colors. The goal of the game is to draw cards to obtain afive-card sequence worth points.

Each player is present at a board with three center cards faced up,three initial cards for each player, and the remaining deck of cards setaside. Each player draws a card from the center cards, discards a card,or passes on each round. When one card is drawn from the center cards,one card from the deck is obtained to replace the drawn card in thecenter. One game comprises three rounds.

Each player strives to match cards having the same correspondingcreature appendages and matching in color. Bonuses are awarded forhaving a creature card or a wild card called a centurium card. Oneembodiment comprises card criteria or variables of two creatures, fiveappendages per creature, and five different colors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings that are incorporated in and constitute a partof this specification illustrate several embodiments of the disclosure.Together with the description, they serve to explain the principles ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an initial game setup.

FIG. 2 illustrates a game setup fix round one.

FIG. 3 illustrates a game setup for round two.

FIG. 4 illustrates a game setup for round three.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary creature cards and their correspondingappendage cards.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary five-card combinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides generally for a strategy card gameinvolving a deck of about 72 cards having criteria or features such ascreatures, appendages that correspond to the creatures, and differentcolors. In exemplary embodiments, there are two distinct creatures. Thecreatures may be fictional or non-fictional. Each creature has fivecorresponding appendages. Each appendage corresponds to one feature ofthe creature. For example, one creature may have a head, a body,tentacles, shell, and antennae specific to and matching that onecreature and not any other creature. Each appendage and each creaturewill be represented on a card in each of six colors. The colors mayvary, but exemplary colors include yellow, orange, red, green, purple,and blue.

Generally, the strategy card game is played in a phase of three rounds.Each player starts with three cards, and three cards are placed face upin the center of the board. On each player's turn, the player may draw acard from the center, discard a card, or pass. Each round concludes witheach player having a hand of five cards. At the beginning of rounds twoand three, an additional card is placed in the center, so four and fivecards are displayed face up, respectively.

The game concludes with each player having three hands of five cards.The points are tallied to determine a winner.

In another embodiment, multiple players may engage in a shorter versionof the game whereby each player engages in one round, and scores aredetermined based on one hand of five cards.

In the event of a tie, the winner may be determined by drawing from astack of cards, and the player to draw a creature card first wins. Tiesmay also be broken based on the card combination difficulty overall orper round or per phase.

Determining player order can be dictated by a pre-agreed set of rules orby other factors such as age of the players or board position of theplayers.

In the following sections, detailed descriptions of examples and methodsof the disclosure will be given. The description of both preferred andalternative examples are exemplary only, and it is understood that tothose skilled in the art that variations, modifications, and alterationsmay be apparent. It is therefore to be understood that the examples donot limit the broadness of the aspects of the underlying disclosure asdefined by the claims.

NUMERALS OF THE FIGURES

-   -   1. First player    -   3. Additional player    -   5. Board    -   7. Deck    -   9. First player initial cards    -   11. Additional player initial cards    -   13. Face-up center cards    -   15. First player round one cards    -   17. Additional player round one cards    -   19. First player round one cards    -   21. Additional player round two cards    -   23. First player round three cards    -   25. Additional player round three cards    -   27. Creature one card    -   29. Creature one appendage cards    -   31. Creature two card    -   33. Creature two appendage cards    -   35. Wild card

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to FIG. 1 , and initial game setup is shown. Two players,a first player and an additional player, are present at each end of aboard. The board has a center card section with center cards placed faceup. Each player begins with three cards that only the player, not anyopponent, sees. The first player has the first player initial cards, andthe additional player has the additional player initial cards. Theremaining cards from the deck are set aside.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , a game setup for round one is shown. The firstplayer has first player round one cards, and the additional player hasadditional player round one cards. At the end of the round, each playerhas five cards. One card is added to the center cards. Each round, aplayer may draw a card from the center cards, may discard a card fromthe player's hand, or may pass.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , a game setup for round two is shown. In roundtwo, the first player has first player round two cards, and theadditional player has additional player round two cards. At the end ofthe round, each player has ten cards. One card is added to the centercards. Each round, a player may draw a card from the center cards, maydiscard a card from the player's hand, or may pass.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , a game setup for round three is shown. Inround three, the first player has first player round three cards, andthe additional player has additional player round three cards. At theend of the round, each player has fifteen cards. One card is added tothe center cards. Each round, a player may draw a card from the centercards, may discard a card from the player's hand, or may pass. Once theplayers have fifteen cards, the combinations are determined and pointvalues tallied.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , exemplary creature cards and theircorresponding appendage cards are shown. In one example, the creaturesare fictional. For example, a creature called a drier resembles a dragonhaving wings, claws, a body, a head, and a tail in creature one card.The creature appendages are separately represented in creature oneappendage cards that correspond to the creature card. A second creaturecalled a mosticul resembles a mollusk having antennae, a shell, a body,tentacles, and a head in creature two card. Likewise, the creatureappendages are separately represented in creature two appendage cardsthat correspond to the creature card. A wild card may have a multiplier,extra points, or customizable value or feature rather than limited to acreature, appendage, or color.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , exemplary five-card combinations are shown. Ajunked one pair combination may have a point value of 3 and may comprisea single pair of matching cards of the same appendage or creature withno correlation to the other three cards. A scavenger/two paircombination may have a point value of 5 and may comprise two pairs ofmatching cards of the same appendage or creature, but each pair pertainsto a separate creature. A gatherer three of a kind may have a pointvalue of 8 and may comprise three matching cards of the same appendageor creature with no correlation to the other two cards. Astockpiler/full house combination may have a point value of 10 and maycomprise three matching cards of the same appendage or creature with anadditional pair of matching cards of the same appendage or creature. Adesigner/same color combination may have a point value of 15 and maycomprise five cards of the same color but with no correlation betweenthe appendages or creatures. An assembler/full creative combination mayhave a point value of 20 and may comprise five appendage cards thatcomplete all five parts of one creature, without regard to color. Ahoarder/four of a kind combination may have a point value of 25 and maycomprise four matching cards of the same appendage or creature with nocorrelation to the fifth card. A collector five of a kind combinationmay have a point value of 35 and may comprise Live matching cards of thesame appendage or creature. A master/full creature, same colorcombination may have a point value of 60 and may comprise five appendagecards of the same color and that complete the appendages of onecreature.

Bonus points may be awarded if a player contains one of the abovecombinations plus a creature card. Bonuses may be additional points or amultiplier. Bonus points or a multiplier may be awarded to a playerhaving a centurium or wild card.

Point values are exemplary to demonstrate the hierarchy and importanceof the combinations relative to the other combinations. The point valuesand multipliers are not fixed and may be adjusted as desired to anyvalue.

CONCLUSION

A number of embodiments of the present disclosure have been described.While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these details should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anydisclosures or of what may be claimed.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented incombination in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order show, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous. Nevertheless, it will be understood thatvarious modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the claimed disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A strategy card game comprising a deck of cardsfeaturing: creature cards, and appendage cards, wherein the appendagecards comprise one of five different appendages that correspond to acreature card, and wherein each deck has each appendage card in sixdifferent colors.
 2. The strategy card game of claim 1 wherein the deckcomprises 72 cards.
 3. The strategy card game of claim 1 furthercomprising a wild card not limited to color.
 4. The strategy card gameof claim 1 wherein the game is played by a first player and at least oneadditional player.
 5. The strategy card game of claim 4 wherein thefirst player and the at least one additional player play the strategycard game on a board wherein the first player and the at least oneadditional player are dealt a hand of three cards, and three centercards are placed upright at the center of the board.
 6. The strategycard game of claim 5 wherein the first player and the at least oneadditional player engage in three rounds of play per phase, whereby ineach round, one card is added to the center cards, and each playereither draws a card from the center cards, discards a card from theplayer's hand of cards, or passes.
 7. The strategy card game of claim 6wherein each player completes one phase with three hands of five cardsobtained through playing three rounds, wherein each player scores thefive-card combinations according to sequence and matching values.
 8. Thestrategy card game of claim 7 wherein the five-card combinationsequences and values comprise one pair, two pairs, three of a kind, fullhouse, same color, full creature, four of a kind, five of a kind, andfull creature same color.
 9. The strategy card game of claim 8 furthercomprising bonus points or values from having a creature card.
 10. Thestrategy card game of claim 8 further comprising bonus points or valuesfrom having a wild card.
 11. A method of playing the strategy card gameof claim 1, the method steps comprising: obtaining a deck of cardscomprising at least 72 cards featuring two creatures and five appendagesper creature, with each creature and each appendage occurring in thedeck six times, one in each of six colors; setting up a board whereineach player has three initial cards, three center cards are placed faceup, and the remaining deck is placed to the side; and completing a phaseby playing three rounds.
 12. The method steps of claim 11 whereby eachplayer gains one card in each of the three rounds, completing the phaseby having three sets of five cards.
 13. The method steps of claim 11whereby each player in each round draws a card from the center cards,discards a card, or passes.
 14. The method steps of claim 13 furthercomprising adding a card to the center cards at the start of each round.15. The method steps of claim 11 further comprising evaluating eachplayer's card sequences and values.
 16. The method steps of claim 15further comprising calculating bonus values or points.
 17. The methodsteps of claim 16 further comprising determining each player's finalscore.
 18. The method steps of claim 17 further comprising declaring theplayer with the most points as the winner.